Class of 2014: “Failing grade 11’s should not be put through to grade 12” - Afriforum

BY CHARL BOSCH - JANUARY 6, 2015

Afrikaans civil rights group, Afriforum, has labelled Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s comments that failing grade 11 students should be allowed to attend matric as unfair, before describing the 2014 national matric pass rate of 75.8% as misleading.

“It is common knowledge that a learner who failed grade 11 will not pass grade 12,” Afriforum Youth’s national president, Henk Maree, wrote on the movement’s website.

“This approach will not solve South Africa’s increasing number of uneducated young people. Instead, learners should receive better backing and support from government, especially those living in the poorer areas of the country. In addition, more emphasis should be placed on providing the child with a solid foundation, so as to eliminate the potential troubles he or she might face in later years of their schooling lives”.

Earlier the group’s deputy CEO, Alana Bailey, told News24 that of the 1 187 961 children that started grade one in 2003, only 689 625 made it passed matric last year. She also added that the actual pass rate of the 2003 grade ones, equated to less than 45% when taking into the account the 2014 pass rate.

“The department should urgently assume responsibility for this figure and tackle the causes behind this drop-out rate head-on,” she said, citing inadequate teaching methods and training, the failure to deliver textbooks on time, poor discipline and ongoing union strikes as the main reasons for the high drop-out rate.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has set the record straight on inaccurate media reports that claim the Maths pass mark has been dropped to 20%. The reports state that learners in the senior phase (grade 7 – 9) may be promoted to the next...